This was reported by the Times of India. It is amazing how people continue to resort to those who make outlandish promises of quick visas, success, and `guarantees`. The best practice for applicants would be to hire only reputable lawyers with a proven track record who will give applicants a realistic assessment of their chances to migrate.
Nigerian pulls off $150K scam in state - The Times of India
Nigerian pulls off $150K scam in state
TNN Oct 12, 2011, 04.54AM IST
AHMEDABAD: It was a mix of immigration scam and Nigerian email scam that stumped many in the state and cost them $1,50,000 collectively. Investigators believe that Eradiri Erepamo, 31, a resident of Nigeria, might be involved in other similar scams in India.
City police crime branch officials said that in October 2010, Manish Panchal, a resident of Nava Vadaj, had filed a complaint against his immigration agents, who had taken money from him for Canadian visa.
However, the accused, proprietor of Vidhi Visa Consultancy at Nehrunagar, Divyej Bhut, and his brother-in-law who was proprietor of Holiday Corner in Rajkot, Hitesh Dathaliya, did not provide the original passport and visa. These two, along with two others, were arrested by a team of special operations group (SOG).
During questioning, Bhut and Dathaliya told the cops that when the former was working with a luxury hotel in the UK, he came in touch with Nigerian national Eradiri Erepamo. He introduced himself to Bhut as Jim Casey, and promised that he could provide authentic visas for anyone against payment.
"It was the first phase of scam. Bhut came back to Rajkot in 2010, and started a immigration consultancy with his brother-in-law. After Rajkot, they started a similar firm in Ahmedabad. Bhut sent 25 passports to Casey in Ghana, along with $500 for each application. Most of the applicants wanted to go to the US through Canada. After a fortnight, Casey sent the scanned copies of visa and passport to Bhut who distributed the same to the applicants" said P I Solanki, crime branch inspector.
The second phase of scam took off when 20 applicants sent $3,500 each for visa. Crime branch officials said that it was a true-blue Nigerian scam. After getting the money, Eradiri said that he was sending the passports through courier. "The courier company existed only on web. When the passports did not arrive even after a month, Eradiri said that there has been some trouble in an African nation at war and if they want to free the parcel, they would have to send $1,5000. This amount wa" said a crime branch official.
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